


Keep Me

by Ellie5192



Series: Two Birds [6]
Category: E/R (1984)
Genre: F/M, companion piece to Things That Make Me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-30
Updated: 2013-03-30
Packaged: 2017-12-06 23:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/741565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie5192/pseuds/Ellie5192
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever.”<br/>― A.A. Milne</p><p>He stares right back, sure that he must mirror her expression, because everything she’s saying he feels, deep in his gut, and he doesn’t know how to describe it, so he only nods, long and slow.</p><p>Follows after Things That Make Me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Me

**_Keep Me_ **

 

He looks up from his book as she steps through the door, toeing off her shoes, her eyes closed where she leans against the doorframe, letting out a long puff of air. The door clicks fully shut behind her back and she bumps her head against the wall behind her, sagging in relief.

“How was it?” he asks lightly, marking his book and putting it aside.

“I think if I’d had you stick needles in my eyes it would have been less painful” she replies, pushing off the wall and making her way over to the couch. “Howard, I didn’t think it was possible to despise the man even more” she says, shaking her head. “But tonight he has done a marvellous job-”

She lowers herself into his side, under his raised and ready arm, her hand coming to rest over his heart.

“-of proving me wrong”

“That bad?”

“Do I really need to spell it out?”

“No, I guess not”

“Oh, I am so glad to be home” she sighs tiredly. He has to grin despite himself when she refers to his place as home, but he has a suspicion that the description has nothing to do with location and everything to do with company. She looks completely drained of energy, and after a night being pleasant to Harold Stickley over a meal, he doesn’t blame her.

“I missed you” she says softly, rubbing her fingertips against his chest.

“You saw me at work less than twenty-four hours ago” he says lightly, grinning at the top of her head, squeezing her tighter against his side. She smiles.

“It was strange going out with someone other than you. I didn’t like it, and not just because of Mr. Harold Stickley either”

He has to fight a rising feeling in his chest when she says that, because all he’s done all day is think about the terrible date she was coerced into, and how much he wished he could do something to spare her, and though they’d worked together the previous night and are working together on the next one, going almost a full day without spending time with her was strange for him too.

“I was thinking about you today” he says, almost a whisper, and it almost sounds like a confession.

“Oh?”

“I was down at the mall to pick up Jenny and I saw some camellias in the florist. They reminded me of you”

She sits up at that, looking at him with the strangest expression. He can’t decide if she’s exasperated, touched, in awe, or just downright annoyed. Suddenly she leans in and kisses him firmly, the hand from his chest coming up to cup his jaw. He thinks he understands that look now.

“Howard” she says, pulling back from him to look him in the eye. “Sometimes you are the most infuriating man I’ve ever had to deal with. And other times…”

She stares at him long and hard, her eyes bearing into him in a way that makes it hard for him to breathe. He stares right back, sure that he must mirror her expression, because everything she’s saying he feels, deep in his gut, and he doesn’t know how to describe it, so he only nods, long and slow. His arms have come up around her, her legs up on the couch, her body turned towards his. He pulls her tighter against his chest, allowing her enough room to turn and get comfortable so she can be as close as physically possible to him. She wraps one hand around his neck and the other around the small of his back, and he practically pulls her into his lap, though they’re not seventeen and so he doesn’t.

“If you guys are gonna make out, can you not do it where I have to watch TV?”

Eve breaks into giggles, looking up to see Jenny coming down the stairs dressed in her pyjamas, an empty bowl in her hand. The girls rolls her eyes at them playfully as she makes her way into the kitchen, and Eve meets Howard’s eyes, grinning at his exasperated look. Eve moves back to sit beside Howard rather than right on top of him, giving him a quick, chaste parting kiss. They hear the bowl being placed in the sink, and a moment later Jenny walks back into the room.

“I thought you were going to sleep half an hour ago” says Howard. “And since when do you have ice cream in your room?”

“Geez Dad, what’s with the interrogation- you know, for someone caught making out on the couch with their girlfriend shouldn’t you be the one getting the third degree?”

Eve is openly grinning at them both, noticing the way Howard is fighting a smirk.

“We weren’t _making out_. Eve just had a horrible dinner with a horrible man and need some cheering up, that’s all”

“Was that the Stickley guy?” asks Jenny with genuine sympathy, coming around to sit on the other couch near them.

“You’ve heard about that, have you?” asks Eve with a smirk.

“Yeah. Dad was complaining all night about you going out with him”

“Hey, I was not!”

Eve stifles a giggle at the exchange, giving Howard a knowing look, and Jenny grins at them both.

“So kid, you wanna watch a movie?” asks Howard. “You should be asleep, but since it’s a weekend, I’m feeling generous”

Jenny nods, giving a thoughtful look. “I’m down with that. What’d you have in mind?”

A short while later they’re settled on the bigger of the two couches, Eve on one side of Howard and Jenny tucked into his other side. The girl is practically falling asleep, though she’s fighting it on principle, and Eve finds she’s not much better.  The film is some B-grade buddy cop flick, and though Eve manages to see out the end credits, when she raises her head enough to check out her couch-mates, she notices them both fast asleep, Howard’s head resting on top of Jenny’s, which is tucked in the crook of his shoulder.

Smiling, and sliding gently away from Howard so as not to wake him, she collects his camera from the bureau and quickly snaps a picture, just moments before Howard blinks his eyes open. He notices the camera in her hand, and the gleeful grin on her face and he shakes his head at her, the warmth of his gaze diminishing the effect of his frown.

She puts the camera back as Howard is slowly adjusting himself, trying not to jostle his daughter too much. Jenny mumbles in her sleep, and shifts around as his arms snake around her back and under her knees, but she doesn’t wake. Momentarily grateful that she takes after his tiny mother in stature, Howard lifts her as he stands, making Eve smile. She walks ahead of him up the stairs, entering Jenny’s bedroom to turn down her bed and adjust her pillow. Eve stands back near the door as Howard places Jenny in the bed and pulls the blanket up as she wakes just enough to mumble in his direction. Eve grins widely so as not to laugh at the way she rolls in under covers and snuggles into her pillow, her back to them. Howard watches her for a minute, a proud smile on his face, and then turns and follows Eve back out into the hall and down the stairs.

“You’re an amazing father, Howard” she says as they reach the bottom, turning to face him. She’s regarding him with an open smile, a soft expression and not a hint of insincerity. He thinks his expression must be much the same, because he can feel how goofy he’s looking, and he doesn’t care one bit.

“You do a great job with her too” he says gently, proudly. “I see the way you are with her. She adores you”

“She’s wonderful” she replies, shaking her head a little in awe.

He pulls her to him, unravelling her arms from their crossed position, tucking her body close to his and leaning down slowly to kiss her. She responds in kind, kissing him back with passion and warmth, the terrible dinner she had earlier all but erased from her memory as his hands slide over her back. They break away after a time, her eyes remaining closed as he kisses her forehead, her nose, her cheek.

“I really do love her, you know” she says, almost a whisper, meeting his eyes, their faces so close that their noses are almost touching.

“I know” he whispers back. She hums and leans her head forward, tucking herself into his chest as his chin rests on top of her head, their arms tightening around each other. She immediately feels tired, the late hour and day’s activities catching up to her, and she pulls back to look at him, gesturing towards his room with a slow blink. He grins at her and nods, keeping own arm around her shoulders as they walk down the hall towards his room.

“I’ll get you back for that picture, you know” he says with a smile.

She gives him a haughty laugh, throwing her head back dramatically, shaking her head. “You’ve got nothing on me and you know it”

“Hmmm, we’ll see” he says slyly.

She grins at him as she enters his room, and he grins back.

Before long they’re fast asleep, his light snores not nearly enough to drag her out of dreamland, his arm reaching across the space between them to rest around her waist, her hand on top of his as though to anchor him there. As though to never let go. 


End file.
